


It Came from Tumblr: Avatar the Last Airbender

by Eternal_Phantom



Series: It Came From Tumblr [4]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:13:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26456983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eternal_Phantom/pseuds/Eternal_Phantom
Summary: Ficbits and loose chapters from my Tumblr focusing on Avatar the Last Airbender
Series: It Came From Tumblr [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1924756
Kudos: 21





	1. Nursery Rhyme

It was an old nursery rhyme, albeit one that had stopped circulating during the beginning of the Hundred Years War. Though few remembered the whole thing (and those that did always argued over the order of the first four verses and the first four words of the fifth) parts of it had become a popular saying. ‘Firebenders rise with the Sun’ was a simplification of what Iroh knew as the first verse

_The Children of Fire rise with the Sun_

_Passion in their blood, they won’t be outdone_

Still, it was just a simply nursery rhyme, one he hadn’t thought of in ages, not until Ember Island. There was a truth in the rhyme, you see. The sun called to Firebenders, and especially young one tended to rise with the dawn and bed down at sunset. It was why Iroh was so surprised when he saw Zuko sneaking out of their vacation home late in the evening. He followed surreptitiously and found the boy heading to the water, playing in the small waves that broke the surface and laughing under the full light of Tui. The scene brought the second verse to mind.

_The Children of Water rise with the Moon_

_The flow of the tides, as always, their boon._

He shook his head of such a nonsensical thought. Zuko had already begun basic firebending, comparing him to a Waterbender was silly. Still, it was dangerous for the young Prince to sneak out on his own and Iroh would remind him of it.

After he had played for a few more minutes.

~

There were several other small things, things Iroh noted and immediately discarded. After all, the last Avatar to be killed was a waterbender. The next would be of Earth. Iroh held on to that knowledge when he saw Zuko train and it seemed at if the wind bolstered his flames. When he had no aversion to water and seemed energized under the full moon. When he stood barefoot on the ground and was far more hard to move than he should have been. Not to mention his ‘invisible friend’ that Iroh was almost certain was a spirit.

Until the farce of the Agni Kai.

No one else saw it, because no one else was looking. They were too busy watching his brother scar the face of his son - with glee in the cases of Azula and Zhao. Iroh was watching his feet. Watching the bare feet stay in place, even when the blow should have knocked him back.

_The Children of Earth are Strong as Stone_

_Their ability to endure let’s them stand alone_

Ozai left and the others went with him, some taking Zuko to the healers on Iroh’s orders. When Iroh was alone he went to examine the stone tiles of the dueling ring. Perfect impressions of Zuko’s toes were embedded in the rock. A type of perfection that could only be made with Earthbending.

He breathed flame hot enough to melt the rock, then drew the heat back so it would set. With the stones giving no more evidence of what had occurred, Iroh moved swiftly. He had to get Zuko out of here.

~

“What now, brother?” Iroh watched his brother carefully.

“Zuko must be punished.”

_Has he not been punished enough, Ozai?_ Iroh frowned, but saw this as his opportunity. “Perhaps he needs to get away from the protection of the royal family? A journey or quest of some sort.”

A wicked grin stole over Ozai’s face. “Of course, the Avatar!”

Iroh nearly spit out his tea. “What?”

“I’ll send him to find the Avatar.”

Iroh felt his heart rate return to normal. “A most…challenging venture.” Under any other circumstance he’d be annoyed at what was an obvious move to permanently get rid of his son while looking like he was doing nothing of the kind. The Avatar, as far as everyone else knew, was holed up in Ba Singh Se, a place not even Iroh could break in his prime.

“Of course it would reflect poorly if he died, so i will accompany him on his quest.” Iroh volunteered. Ozai’s cruel grin grew wider. Of course, this sent the only one who had a chance of challenging him for his throne far away as well.

Hopefully by the time Ozai learned the truth about his son, it would be far too late.

~

It was amazing to watch now that he knew. The way the wind would gust slightly at Zuko’s dramatic motions, His strange energeticness at the full moon. So many little signs no one seemed to see. Whether it was on the ship that took them to the Earth Kingdom, or on the back of Komodo Rhinos, Zuko traveled with seemingful ease

_The Children of Air are Unbound And Free_

_Effortlessly passing over land and sea_

The spirit had come along too. Iroh had never directly seen it, but he saw Zuko talking to it when he thought himself unseen. With what he knew now, he was sure the spirit was the previous Earth Avatar. It was not unknown for prior Avatars to guide their newest incarnation after all. And it appeared to do so subtly. With his obvious gusto in his search for the Avatar, it was apparent Zuko had no idea he was the object of his own search.

Well, the former Avatar wasn’t the only one who could be subtle. It had been easy enough to convince Zuko not to look in Ba Singh Se. After all, the Fire Nation had been attacking it for longer than Zuko had existed and not once had the Avatar tried to defend it.

So they traveled the Earth Kingdom in their search, right in the middle of the war. And Zuko got an unvarnished look at it all. The destruction of homes and families. The actions of the soldiers toward the people of the Earth Nation. More than once Zuko had stepped in when witnessing something dishonorable and more than one Agni Kai was held.

It was hard for him to do that to his nephew. To chip away at the utter faith he had in his people, his father, and the war as a whole. He knew he had caused Zuko no end of restless sleep and misgivings. But the world needed to be returned to the balance and sadly fate had chosen Zuko to do it. The sooner he understood what he had to do, the better.

It was three years into his search when they ran into Admiral Zhao in one of the port towns. Iroh felt his hackles rise. He had not forgotten how the man had enjoyed watching his nephew be hurt. As it was the interactions were kept brief. Zuko nearly flipped the table when Zhao admonished him for ‘getting in the way of hardworking soldiers having a bit of fun’.

The tensions didn’t decrease when Zuko set out the next morning, only to find Zhao had commandeered all of his men and his rhinos.

“There will be more waiting for you in the next town over. My business for the Firelord cannot be delayed.” Zhao said smoothly. Too smoothly.

Zuko’s hands clenched. Iroh moved to intercept, especially in fear that the element that came from his nephews fists wouldn’t be flame. “There is nothing we can do against the Firelord’s will. It is not a long walk.”

“If you don’t mind, I would prefer to stay with the General.” Jee requested. “I am here as a personal favor to him, after all.”

“Well, let it not be said I am not a reasonable man.” Zhao said jovially. “If you wish to tie your fate to the Dragon of the West, who am I to gainsay you.”

“I don’t trust that man,” Jee commented as Zhao left.

“Nor should you.” Iroh agreed. “Let’s make haste. I don’t think we should be here any longer than necessary.”

“You make it sound like we are in danger Uncle.”

“I am not so sure we are not.”

~

The path to the next town was through a canyon. The path was well traveled but strangely empty.

Both Iroh and Jee had their guards up. Zuko was muttering under his breath, his eyes fixed on some point ahead. He was talking to the spirit, which meant at least one of them had noticed something was wrong.

They had just gotten in sight of an old stone bridge running over the Canyon when they heard Zhao’s voice. “No hard feelings, just Firelord Ozai’s orders. Oh and Iroh, I know you think I’m without mercy, but that’s not true. This time I won’t make you live with your child’s death.” Zhao shot a blast of fire at a point in the rocks near them. Several other blasts came from the lip of the canyon, each striking a predetermined point. There had obviously been blasting jelly hidden in the rocks, because each strike triggered an explosion that rained heavy rock on their heads.

Iroh tried to cover Zuko, but in that moment his nephew’s eyes glowed, the unearthly light spreading to his scar. Zuko stomped at the ground and shot his arms up. The Earth below them flowed upwards, creating a shield. The avalanche crashed around them, with only whispers of light peeking through.

“We’re alive,” Jee gasped. “Prince Zuko, what was that?”

“I don’t know, I don’t -” Zuko stared at his hands as though he’d never seen them before. “Uncle, what was that?”

“That, nephew, was Earthbending.” Iroh answered solemnly,  
  


“But it can’t be. I’m a Firebender. The only one who can bend multiple elements is…the…Uncle?” Zuko’s voice dropped to a whisper, sounding more like a child that he had in years. “It can’t be. Uncle, please…”

“I am sorry, Avatar Zuko.”

Jee’s breath came in as a sharp hiss while Zuko’s came out a broken sob. “Is this a j-joke? Father sent me into the world to catch myself?”

“No, your father sent you into the world to _get rid of you_.” Iroh hated to be so blunt, but if Zuko were to survive he had to know the truth. “He sent you on a fool’s errand to keep you out of the way, then employed Zhao when that didn’t get you far enough.”

“Father tried to kill me.” The words were sour on his tongue, but he couldn’t deny them.

“And he thinks he succeeded. He must continue to think that.”

“While I do what? Master the elements? Figure out someway to defeat my own people?“

“While you _stay alive_!” Iroh pulled his nephew close. “The world can’t lose you. _ **I**_ can’t lose you.”

“I don’t know what to do, Uncle.” Zuko did his best not to cry. “I just-it’s can’t even begin to understand any of this.”

“You knew already, didn’t you.” Jee observed. “You’re far too calm about this.”

“I have suspected for a long time.” Iroh admitted. “I did not know until the Agni Kai. I jumped on the idea of a quest because I needed to get Zuko away before Ozai figured it out too.”

“Because my father would kill me, thus ending the Avatar cycle forever.” Zuko released his Uncle and flopped back onto the ground. “I’m not just the Avatar, I’m the last Avatar.” he closed his eyes. “What clued you in?”

“You rose with the Moon as well as the Sun. Earth beneath your feet steadied you. And I am fairly certain the spirit that follows you around is one of you past lives.”

“Spirit?” Jee asked at the same time Zuko turned his head to stare into apparent nothing.

“Aang, is that true?” Zuko’s frown deepened. “And when were you going to tell me?” His face twisted in a mix and anger and annoyance. “How the hell were you going to break THAT to me gently?” Whatever the Spirit responded with, Zuko just rolled his eyes and turned his head the other way. “Now what?”

“Now we do nothing. We have food in our bags and enough air is coming through that we can breath. We wait long enough that Zhao won’t catch us leaving, and then we flee.”  
  


“We’ll need to find him teachers,” Jee felt twisted inside. He was planning to not only desert, but plot against his own army. But at the same time he knew he couldn’t stand for a King that would assassinate his own son for being inconvenient. Not to mention if Jee were discovered to be alive, he’d be killed just for knowing of the plot. “You and I can teach him what he still needs to know of fire, and the Spirit can teach earth-”

“Aang doesn’t know Earthbending, He’s an Airbender.” Zuko supplied.

“An Airbender?” admittedly Iroh wasn’t suspecting that. In a way that made things easier, since there were plenty of Earthbenders, but no one left alive who could airbend. “Then we must find an Earthbending teacher. Perhaps in Ba Singh Se?”

Zuko’s eyes widened as he stared at something unseen with horror. Wisps of wind gussied around the cave. “I don’t think it’s a good idea Uncle.”

“Zuko, you need to master the elements.”

“It’s not that, the moment you said the name of the city, Aang reacted. Badly. I’ve never seen him like this before.”

“Like what?” Jee asked.

“ _Terrified_ ,”

“No Ba Singh Se then.” Jee did not want to know what would upset an Avatar Spirit so much. “We should probably leave the Earth Kingdom all together as soon as we can.”

“Aang can teach him Airbending, so our next step should be water,” Iroh agreed. “The North Pole has seen far more Fire Nation activity in the surrounding waters. The Southern Water Tribe should be our first stop.”

“Aang’s calmed down. Well, rather he’s excited for a different reason. Uncle, what’s ‘penguin sledding’?”

“I do not know. He will have to tell us when we get there.” Iroh pulled Zuko back into the hug. “I know this is a lot to take nephew, but you are my family, first and foremost. I will always be there for you.”

“I love you too Uncle. But I’m still upset at you for not telling me sooner.” Zuko shifted slightly so his back was resting on one of the rock walls. He had only been up for a few hour but the adrenaline crash for the assassination attempt and, well, a bunch of stuff he wasn’t ready to think about, did him in. He felt his eyes starting to close. “Good part is, I don’t have to get back at you.”

‘That’s…good?” Iroh seemed confused by the statement.

“Yep. Aang doesn’t have to hide his presence from you anymore, and he’s something of a prankster.” Small bursts of air gusted around the makeshift cave in anticipation. “Sweet dreams Uncle.”

Oh so that’s how it was, eh? “Sweet dream Avatar Zuko,” His nephew opened his eyes just long enough to give Iroh a dirty look before he drifted off into sleep.

_Fire and Water, Air and Earth, when you have all four_

_The Avatar exists to keep Balance evermore._


	2. Nursery Rhyme Energy Bending Snippets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takes place much later in Nursery Rhyme

“Toph’s asleep.” Aang reported.

Zuko’s breathed out a sigh of relief. He wanted this to be a private conversation and she was the one he was most worried about overhearing. Sure she was brash and forward, but he hadn’t forgotten how sneaky she was capable of being, hiding her second identity from her parents. “Could you wait here too?”

Aang crossed his arms. “Sokka won’t even know I’m there.”

“But I would. And it would feel like I’m ganging up on him, but it has to be his choice and-”

Aang put his hands up. “If it makes you feel better, I’ll stay here.”

“You could always get some lesson plans ready.” Zuko suggested, which had Aang grinning.

Zuko left his tent and went to where Sokka would be standing watch. He was often the last to go to sleep, taking the safety of the group seriously. “Can we talk?”

“I’m not stopping you.” Sokka shrugged.

“I’ve been studying the techniques I learned at Wan Shi Tong’s library. It’s been focusing far more on the Spiritual Side of being an Avatar than I’ve ever done. According to Aang more than any Avatar has done in generations. But I think I’ve got it. I can use energybending to make more airbenders.”

He heard the sharp intake of Sokka’s breath. He understood how important this was. “I just need to put it into action, and the first new airbender…Sokka I want it to be you.”

Sokka crossed his arms, but didn’t respond for a few minutes. “I don’t need bending,” He finally said, tersely.

Zuko took a deep breath. "Sokka, you are without a doubt one of the greatest warriors I have ever met. You’re clever, adaptive, and pick up new disciplines faster than anyone I’ve ever seen. If I ever heard anyone suggest you needed to be a bender I’d fight them myself, if everyone one else in our camp didn’t beat me to it.” 

“You don’t need to be a bender, it’s more…I need a bender to be you." 

Sokka raised an eyebrow. "And that makes sense how?" 

"We don’t have much time before the Day of Black Sun. In that time I need to at least create some new airbenders in case I die. But I need to know this is going to work. And for that I need the first new airbender to be someone who can travel with us. But our path in dangerous and they’d need to be able to defend themselves, and not with a bending they’re not used to. I need the first airbender to be a warrior who doesn’t have to rely on bending, but who’s adaptive enough to be able to incorporate it into what they already do. Who else could that be but you?”

~

“Katara, can we talk?" 

Katara looked up from breakfast at the serious expression on her brother’s face. He looked like he hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep. "What about?" 

Sokka took a deep breath. "Zuko wants me to become an airbender." 

It took her a moment to process what she’d heard. "Wait, _you_? _Why_?" 

"The long story short of it: I’m adaptable and don’t need to rely on bending to fight.” Sokka plopped down by the fire. “It’s weird, you know? I wasn’t the biggest fan of your bending back at the South Pole. Then bending got us mixed up in all kinds of weird stuff after we teamed up with Zuko and Iroh, and I was glad I never had to deal with that. But after a while I got, you know, jealous. You and Iroh, and Toph can do all these amazing things, and Zuko was the flipping Avatar, and here I was just a guy with a boomerang." 

"You know none of us saw you that way, right?” Katara asked, her eyes looking troubled. 

“I know, it’s just… I’m afraid the part of me that wants to say yes just wants to feel special, while another part of me is how much I’m afraid I won’t be me anymore, and I don’t know what to do. I know logically Zuko’s right. I’m the best candidate we have right now. But I’m scared.”

~

“Okay, let’s do this before I change my mind." 

"No." 

Sokka blinked at Zuko and his instant shut down. "What?" 

"We’re not doing this unless you’re _completely_ sure. There’s too much risk otherwise." 

Sokka’s eyes narrowed. "What risk, you never said anything about risk." 

"Because the risk isn’t to _you_.” Zuko snapped, then took a few breaths to calm down. “Consensual energy bending like what I have planned has no real risk. But if you panic and change your mind it becomes a battle of will. Your will has never faltered. Mine has. You could shatter me, Sokka, so excuse me for not wanting to risk that until I know my work is done.”

There was a whole lot to unpack there. Zuko’s lack of faith in himself, his utter faith in Sokka (who had to admit he was kind of touched the Avatar had no doubts he would be the one to come off better in a test of wills), or Zuko implying that the risk would be okay, as long as he’d made enough Airbenders to know the cycle wouldn’t be broken upon his death. 

It also helped to know Zuko wasn’t so eager that he’d pressure Sokka into it. That took a load off his mind.

~

"I’m sure.” Zuko looked up from his meditation. He didn’t have to ask what Sokka meant. 

“I thought about it and I had a lot of concerns about a lot of things, but in the end, I think it came down to your concern. You’re right. Letting the cycle stay broken any longer than absolutely necessary is beyond risky. Being the Avatar doesn’t protect you from death. I swore I’d do anything I could to help end the war. This wasn’t what I was expecting, but I can’t turn away from it." 

Zuko nodded. Duty and Honor were what he understood best. "Okay. Sit down in front of me. I’m going to need to put my hands on your head and heart to do this. Like I said before, please don’t fight me. Also it would help if you focused on Air to give it something to anchor to.” Zuko tried to sound wise teacherish, if only to hide how nervous he was about the procedure. 

He placed his hands where he said and _bent_. It was…like nothing he’d ever done before, it wasn’t just pulling on an element, it was raising his awareness. He could suddenly see into Sokka’s soul, and see the nodes of chakra that governed it. Sokka’s elemental nodes were reasonably balanced with a slight weight towards Water. Not unusual for a non bender and oh hey he could raise Sokka’s spiritual awareness and give Aang someone else to talk to. 

Tempting, but no. He’d stick to what he said and no more.

He strengthened the Air Charkra and pulled energy into it. But almost as quickly it drained out. “Sokka, are you focusing on air?" 

"Yeah, I’m thinking of all those dumb temples and everything." 

There was a beat of silence. "Sokka _YOU ARE NOT A MONK_. Those images mean nothing to you. Don’t think about the image of what you think an Airbender should be. What does air mean to **you**?" 

To him? Sokka was taken aback. Air was…was…Air was _wind_. It was blowing snowflakes in a blizzard while Gran Gran told them stories of the North Pole. It was the crisp scent of salt as he stood on the shores waiting for his father’s boat to return, which could turn sharp as a knife if it wanted. It was the warmth that filled their balloon and let them travel between poles all the way into the Fire Nation. Wind was Home. Wind was Freedom. 

And something in Sokka clicked. He opened his eyes to see an exhausted looking Zuko pulling his hand away, and the others just watching mouths mostly agape, with rocks clinging to Katara’s legs. 

"Will someone tell me what’s happening?” Toph grumbled, keeping her hold on Katara. 

"It was quite the impressive light show, nephew.“ Iroh observed, stroking his beard. "From both of you." 

"Both? Sokka’s jaws worked up and down. Sure Zuko glowing was one thing, with his whole Avatar dealy, but him too? 

"Sweetness here tried to grab you away. I may not know what’s going on but, I figured that would be bad.” Toph explained. 

“It would have.” Zuko panted. “But it worked. ” He gave Sokka a tried smile. “Congratulations. You’re an airbender.”

* * *

“Hey Zuko, just to be clear. All we’re doing is sitting at you families beach house laying low till the Day of Black Sun, right? There’s nothing we need to be working on?" 

Zuko shot Sokka a look. "Well, _you_ need to be working on your airbending forms, otherwise no." Sokka’s face had been pure mischief, Katara had caught it too. As had Toph, though she was grinning in a way that made things worse.

"Well I think this is a _perfect_ time for a little Energy Bending practice. More precisely, I think you should take away Katara’s waterbending till we’re ready to leave." 

Katara let out a squack of indignation and Zuko just sighed. "Sokka, remember when I explained energy bending can be risky if the other person is unwilling? There is no way she’s going to willingly give up her bending even temporarily.” Zuko pointed out. 

“I wasn’t suggesting we leave her empty handed.” Sokka waved them off. “Something like, say, firebending?” 

“Why on Earth do you think I’d _willingly_ become a _fire_ bender?” Katara asked heatedly. 

“Because when Zuko was having a hard time getting a grasp on waterbending, you made a claim that you could pick up fire much easier than he did water. I just want to see if it’s true. Or do you _admit_ you were empty boasting?”

Katara glared at him, then marched up to Zuko. “Fire-ize me." 

Zuko sputtered, not expecting that. "Are…are you joking?" 

"Do it!” Katara’s tone left no room to argue.

Zuko could feel the headache building, but put one hand on Katara’s head and the other over her heart. It was honestly far easier than giving Sokka airbending. The water was well entrenched, but her anger was practically singing for fire. “Done. You might want to ask Uncle for lessons, though. He’s a better teacher than me." 

She gave a curt nod, then a predatory smile at her brother, then walked off. 

"I can’t BELIEVE you got away with that!” Toph was rolling on the ground laughing. 

“Who says he did?” Zuko smirked. “He got his sister pissed at him, then convinced me to give her the power to shoot fire." 

Toph laughed even harder as all the color drained from Sokka’s face. "Better throw yourself on the mercy of the Avatar. It’s the only chance you got." 

"Nope, even the Avatar knows to pick his battles. The entire fire nation army is one thing, I learned my lesson about little sister bending prodigies with fire. Good luck Sokka." 

* * *

_It was good to be free_ Cheif Hakoda thought as he stepped out of the balloon Sokka and the Avatar had rescued him in. They were in the Western Air Temple, apparently. According to to Sokka the Avatar’s Uncle, an earthbender, and more importantly Katara was there as well. He saw her before she saw him. She was doing waterbending forms and he just wanted a moment to stop and look at her, to see how much she’d grown… And then a small gout of fire burst from her hands. 

"Sokka, I don’t remember your sister being a firebender,” Suki commented, staring at the sight. 

“We probably should have mentioned that.” Zuko admitted. 

“Hey Katara, guests!” Toph said with a laugh. 

“Guests? Toph who could visit us way up here.” Then she turned and saw them. “Dad?” she chocked, before running and squeezing him as hard as she could. 

“I’m here too,” Suki joked. 

“Zuko and I may have staged a prison break. At the most high security Fire Nation prison to get him out.” Sokka tried to sound casual, but was obviously pleased with himself. 

“Aang wants to point out he was there too.” Zuko added. 

“Who’s Aang, and why is Katara firebending?” Hakoda felt more confused by the second. 

“Aang is Zuko’s Spirit Guide. As for the firebending, I just thought Katara should put her skill where her mouth was. Or rather her lack of skill.” Sokka sounded smug. 

“You better be glad I’m so happy Dad’s here or you’d be getting a fiery first to the face." 

"Like you could manage more than smoke." 

"If I may.” Iroh interrupted. “When your daughter was teaching my nephew waterbending they came across a common problem among Avatars, a difficult grasping the opposing element. Katara made the claim that if she was in his place, she would be much more adept at firebending then he was at water." 

"My nephew learned of energybending, a way to give or take away bending ability, in his quest to bring Air back into the balance. And your son decided to call her months old bluff.”

That…sounded like Sokka. “Avatar Zuko, I don’t suppose you could set my daughter back to normal?" 

"Certainly sir,” Zuko couldn’t hide the relief in his voice, but Katara grabbed one of his wrists. 

“Oh no, you’re not winning that easily.” She warned. 

“Winning? I’m not even in this argument.” Zuko protested. 

“I’m not giving up on this till I learn Firebending. Even if the day of Black Sun comes, I’ll be firebending into battle.” Katara declared. 

“Okay no.” Zuko put his foot down. “First of all we are not giving up one of the few waterbending masters in this fight for your ego. Second, there _is_ no firebending on the Day of Black Sun. That’s the whole _point_ of the Day of Black Sun." 

Katara looked pensive for a moment. "Fine. I accept the second reason. But I’m going back to fire right after.”


	3. Rebellion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: The crew of Zuko's ship finds out the truth behind his banishment. They're not happy

“General, the men and I have been talking. There’s something I need to discuss with you.”

Iroh smiled. “Come in Lt. Jee, would you like some tea.”  
  


“Yes Sir.” Jee sat down and waited. Iroh drank tea socially, but was fond of doing the full tea ceremony when indulged. And with what he wanted to say, Jee wanted the old general in the best mood possible.

After an eternity that was over all too quickly, Iroh put a steaming cup in front of him, then took a cup of his own. “Now, what can I do for you?”

Jee took a sip of his tea, then sighed. “I’ve been talking with the crew and we all agree. We can’t be a part of this anymore.”  
  


“A part of what?” Iroh’s tone was light and jovial, but Jee knew the dangerous territory.

“The Firelord’s plan to kill his son.”

Iroh but his tea down, and Jee felt a shiver go down his spine. “Explain.”

“The scuttlebutt on what happened to the Prince was he burned himself in a training accident. And that he did _something_ so terrible his father banished him until he was able to be responsible.” Jee took another sip. “That was the reason most of us were less than pleased to be commanded by him. It wasn’t until the storm, when you told us the true story, we realized how much we had been deceived, purposefully, to the Prince’s true nature.” And the Firelord’s, but he wasn’t quite ready to say that yet.

“The announcement that Admiral Zhao had been placed in charge of the hunt for the Avatar, once Zuko found him, proves the Firelord has no intention of welcoming his son back, and is in fact trying to prevent it from happening. We didn’t think of it at the Fire Temple, never dreamed Firelord Ozai would actually kill his son for breaching the terms of banishment in pursuit of the Avatar. But we know different now. We know Zuko snuck off the ship, and later heard that _someone_ had infiltrated Pohuai Keep and freed the Avatar from Zhao. And if he’s ever caught, doing that would be all the excuse the Firelord needs…” Jee trailed off. “If things continue as they are, Zuko is going to die. Whether by being caught in Fire Nation waters, or in a stunt to catch the Avatar. All to earn the approval of the very man trying to get rid of him. We can’t-”

“I understand. Despite what many think, I am not so old and foolish as to not see the cruelty in my brother. He sees the new generation as a continuation of the last. Two siblings born to the Firelord. The eldest kind and protective of his people. The youngest cruel and craving power. And wanting things to remain as they were, he has taken steps.” Iroh sighed. “I had hoped to have more time to help Zuko to understand this. I thought I had a lifetime, but the appearance of the Avatar has cursed my nephew with hope.”

  
  
“Prince Zuko must not capture the Avatar.” Jee said, something dark coiling in his gut. “He won’t survive it.”

“Now all we must do is convince him of it.”

It would be considered treason to anyone off the ship. But those serving had fought with the General and despite what Firelord Azulon had supposedly said, felt Iroh was the true Firelord. Likewise Iroh felt Ozai had betrayed everything he was supposed to protect and could not truly be called a Lord of any kind.

But that was for later concerns. Now they had a Prince to save from both himself and his father.


	4. The Restorationists

“Here we are, the Southern Air Temple.”

  
  
“It looks amazing Aang,” Katara couldn’t help but be breathless at the sight. Even so she couldn’t help the feeling of trepidation. Aang was from a time of peace long past. No matter how much they told him otherwise, he wouldn’t truly understand what the Fire Nation was capable of till he saw it with his own eyes. And this was the place she feared it would happen.

Aang led them up a long and winding path, chattering excitedly about everything he knew about the place. “And that’s the field where we played Air Ball, and that’s where the air bison slept and-” he broke off, sadness filling his voice. “This place used to be so different. It was full of monks and life. Now there’s nothing here. I can’t believe how much things have changed.”  
  


“Maybe not.” Sokka was looking around with sharp eyes. “If this place was really abandoned, there should be all sorts of weeds and overgrowth. But everything’s neatly kept. _Someone’s_ been here, and a lot more recently than a hundred years ago,”

His voice was filled with dark suspicion, but it went right over Aang’s head. The last airbender perked up. “You’re right! Come on let’s find them!”   
  


“Aang wait!” But it was too late. Aang had taken off on his air scooter, following the path as quickly as he could. He came to an abrupt stop, air dissipating, and stared at the two figures wearing blotchy grey clothes standing in front of him.  
  


One of them, a woman, dropped the bundle of sticks and weeds she was holding. The other, a man with sideburns whispered “An airbender…” under his breath. “Get Iroh, he’s meditating in the Avatar Chamber.” He then bowed deeply as the woman ran off. “Honored Monk, would you and your companions please join us for some tea. I know our leader would be honored to speak with you.”

Aang nodded, but he seemed a lot more subdued than before. They were led into a large room. Sokka kept one hand on his boomerang, just waiting to see if trouble would start. On the way they saw several more grey-clothed people staring at them in wonder.

“Iroh should be here shortly.” the man explained. “My name is Jee.”  
  


“Iroh’s the one in charge?” Katara asked.  
  


“Everyone but he himself would tell you so.” Jee had a half smile. “Iroh sees our little group as a collection of equals, but in times of crisis or question, we tend to turn to him or Zuko.”

“Who’s-” But before Sokka could finish asking who Zuko was (and for that matter who this group was) he was interrupted by heavy footsteps running towards the door and throwing it open.  
  


“Jee is it true?” An elderly man was panting, clearly not used to running like he was. “An airbender has returned?”

Jee nodded. “This good Monk and his friends just arrived at the temple.”

“Spirits be praised.” The mans face twisted as tears began to flow from his eyes. “That the balance might not be destroyed, it’s more than I dared hope.” Then he seemed to catch himself and dried his eyes. “Where are my manners. My name is Iroh, let me make you some tea.”  
  


“Thank you. I’m Aang, these are my friends Katara and Sokka.” Aang introduced. “But may I ask, please, how did people from the Fire Nation get here. I thought this temple could only be reached by flying bison.”  
  


“Fire Nation!” Sokka rose from his seat, grabbing his boomerang. Likewise Katara reached for the water Iroh was pouring into the teapot.

“Peace.” Iroh sad calmly. “No one here wishes any of you harm.”   
  


“How can you say that?” Katara spat. “You’re _Fire Nation_!”

Iroh looked directly to Aang. “Will you hear our story, honored Monk?”

“I will.” Aang turned to his friends. “We can’t attack before we’ve heard them out.”

“Watch me.” But despite his words, Sokka made no move to attack.

Iroh poured more water in the kettle, to replace what Katara had taken. “I am curious myself, how you identified us so quickly.”

“You’re wearing ash-dyed clothes.” Aang explained. “That’s what Fire Nation people wear in mourning.”

“A custom no longer practiced, sadly. We have taken it for our own as we mourn the loss of so much in the world, and seek to save as much as we can. If we can call ourselves anything, we are Restorationists.” Iroh handed each of them and Jee a cup, before pouring one for himself.

“Our story began three years ago, in the Fire Lord’s war council. My nephew, Zuko, was about your age and had talked his way inside to observe and learn. Like all children of the Fire Nation he’d been raised to believe the Nation was perfect and the war just. And it was in this meeting those beliefs were destroyed.”

“A General suggested a plan that would end in the sacrifice of the youngest Fire Nation recruits in a gambit that would gain very little, for you see the Firelord cares as little for his own people as those of other nations. The War Room was usually divided into two factions. Those like the General who reveled in slaughter, and those like myself who knew there was nothing we could say to stop it. Except that day there was another.”  
  


“Zuko spoke out, loudly and passionately, about how wrong the plan was. He was told he’d have to fight an honor duel for his disrespect. Zuko was pleased to fight someone as dishonorable as the General. Only on the day of the duel, his opponent wasn’t the general, but his own father.”

Sokka drew in a hissing breath. “The Firelord made him fight his own father?”

Iroh took a long sip of tea. “He forced Zuko, yes. But it was not involuntary on both sides. My brother longed to be rid of his kind-hearted son, and saw the duel as an opportunity. But my nephew thwarted him.” Iroh smiled to himself. “He surrendered, refusing to harm his own father. As a result my brother couldn’t land a killing blow without being disgraced himself. Instead he scarred Zuko and had him banished in disgrace for his ‘cowardice’.” 

For the first time they heard anger in Iroh’s voice. “No child should have to learn so young that their Nation is disgraceful, that their family has no honor. It was a terrible lesson, and yet one he did learn. The Firelord gave him an impossible task in order to rescind his banishment, but it’s one Zuko has no interest in pursuing. Instead he set out to learn how much more of what he knew was a lie. I’m sure you know what he found.” 

“Zuko wanted to make a pilgrimage to the places most harmed by the Fire Nation, starting with the Air Temples, the Western Air Temple in particular. We told him only an Air Bender could reach it. We underestimated him. Within a day he had managed to get inside. What he reported back to us was…it was nothing less than a tragedy. The corpses of Fire nation Soldiers and Air Nomads alike were strewn over the temple, which, as you can imagine, had fallen into serious disrepair.”

“Over the next few weeks, we had removed the bodies of the soldiers and gave them tradition field rites as per the Fire Nation. But we agreed we did not want to disrespect the Air Nomads further by denying them the proper rites. We searched the temple in hopes of finding the instructions, which we did.”  
  


“Please Iroh,” Aang looked like he was a moment away from sobbing. “Can you tell me…I just want to be sure.”  
  


Iroh nodded. “We burned them on an outdoor pyre, eight people in attendance at the cardinal directions. Four people facing the pyre, praying for the spirit of the fallen monk, four facing away, praying to the spirits to guide them. When the fire burned out, we spread the ashes to the four winds.”

Aang let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you.” His voice shook and Katara pulled him into a hug.  
  


Iroh nodded. “But the search for the proper rites drove home to my nephew how much had been lost. We spent much of the first year at the temple, finding what we could on Air Nomad Culture, as well as undoing what damage had been done. We were few to start with, barely thirty people. But as we traveled, more came to us. Most were former soldiers of the Fire Nation who could not stomach what they were asked to do. Some were Earth Kingdom scholars, seeking to uncover what had been lost to the war. We have restored all but the Norther Air Temple, as well as several places in the Earth Kingdom.”

“What about the South Pole.” Sokka crossed his arms. “You said you were going to places the Fire Nation hit hardest.”  
  


“The South Pole is still occupied, and I doubt the current residents would appreciate us showing up. We have found some various parchment scrolls, which we have copied into our caches, but not much.”

“Hold up, what caches?” Katara demanded.

“We didn’t want to make it easy for The Firelord’s servants to destroy the histories of the fallen peoples again. All the information we’ve found has been copied and placed in caches. We have one places in each of the locations we’ve restored, as well as several other hidden places throughout the Earth Kingdom. The memories of these people will not be forgotten again.”

“You’re more than welcome to look through the cache here for any knowledge lost to you tribe.” Jee said kindly. “And we would greatly appreciate anything Monk Aang could add. We’ve done our best, but that’s not the same as someone who’s lived in the culture.”

Iroh bowed his head. “For that matter, we recognize that this place and the other Air Temples belong to your people. If your people do not want us in their ancestral home, we will of course leave.”

Aang felt a lump in his throat as he realized that Iroh, and probably the rest of the Restorationists, had made a mistake. They thought he was one of a group of Air Nomads who had escaped. Not that he was the last. And…and if they had been to all the temples, except maybe the Northern One, he very well could be.

“Would you mind if I took a look at the cache.” To be honest he was less interested in it’s contents and more…he just needed some time to sort all this out.

Iroh nodded his head. “Of course. The cache for the Southern Air Temple is in the Atrium of the Southern Wind. I trust you know where that is?”

Aang nodded and rose. “Thank you for the tea.”” He gave a small bow an left, Katara by he side. Sokka hung back a bit and heard a snatch of conversation as he shut the door.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Jee asked.

Sokka froze, listening carefully.

“It depends on what you think I’m thinking.” Iroh said amicably.

“I’m thinking your bastard of a brother never let Zuko interact with other children and he never had the chance to once he took the responsibility to undue sins from before he was born. You’re hoping the Monk and his companions will be friends to him.”

“You know me too well.”

Sokka slid away, not sure if he was disappointed or relieved.

“What are you thinking Aang?” Katara asked as Sokka caught up. “Should we make a break for it.”

“No, if they wanted to hurt us, they would have tried already.” Aang said heavily. He sighed. “I really am the last, aren’t I?”

Katara gripped his hand and Sokka slung an arm around his shoulder. “You’re not alone thought. You know that right?” Katara asked him.

He gave her a sad smile. “Thanks guys.”

The Atrium of the Southern Wind was a tall chamber that was open beneath the ceiling so the wind rushed through. Though open to the air, it let little light in, so when the opened the door the chamber was flooded with light.

There was a single person inside, shielding his eyes as the new light greatly outshone the small candle he had been using. “I told you, Miki. I’ll take a break as soon as I finish transcribing this. Codebreaking is easier than reading Monk Chaiyun’s handwriting.” He was significantly younger than the other Restorationists they had seen. He also seemed to be wearing a strange white fur hat.

Katara and Sokka instinctively stood in front of Aang, who chuckled. “It really was bad.”

The Restorationist’s head shot up, causing his hat to fall off with a startled squeak. “You’re not-How did you get up here?” Then he shook his head. “That’s egotistical, we got up after all, sorry.” he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

Katara and Sokka felt their stomachs twist. Iroh had said his nephew had been scarred, and they though they had understood what that meant. They had seen plenty of scars on the men of the village, life at the mercy of the ocean wasn’t kind. Almost all members of the tribe has some scars, from light gashes on fingertips struck with fish hooks, to the broad slash across Chinuk’s chest from when he’s been hit with shrapnel from Fire nation cannons on their last raid.

Nothing they imagined prepared them for the burn covering most of the left side of Zuko’s face. It was like someone with a flaming hand grabbed it and held on. Knowing it was his own father who’d done this, who _wanted_ to do this, sickened them.

Aang’s attention, though, was on his ‘hat’. “Is that a lemur?” he asked, delight entering his voice for the first time.

Zuko smiled. “Yeah. I gave him some food and he’s stuck with me ever since. Do you want to give him some food?”

“Do I? Aang excitedly asked.

Zuko reached into a satchel and pulled out some berries and handed them to Aang. Aang offered them to the lemur who sniffed, then grabbed one, scooting away to eat it.

“I don’t suppose you have some meat in there?” Sokka stared at the satchel longingly. 

“No, but I feel you though. We don’t bring meat to the Temples since the Air Nomads were vegetarians and we don’t want to disrespect them. But I miss it too. I do have some Rabbiyak cheese though.” He reached into the bag and handed a soft yellow wedge to Sokka.

“Good enough!” Sokka grabbed it and shoved it in his mouth, practically melting in joy. 

Katara laughed, both at her brother and her friend, who now had the lemur climbing over him. “You made a new friend, Aang?”  
  


Zuko perked up “Aang? You were named after Avatar Aang?”

“Avatar Aang?” Katara asked, thanking the Spirits that the Lemur was on Aang’s face, so Zuko didn’t see his reaction. 

“The last Avatar we have any information on,” Zuko explained. “He grew up in this very Temple. The last piece of information we have on him was that he was going to the Eastern Air Temple. We don’t know if he made it or not though.”

He didn’t. But neither of the siblings wanted to tell anyone from the Fire Nation that, not matter how much goodwill that cheese had bought from Sokka.

Sokka swallowed the last of the cheese. “Iroh said the cache in here might have some lost knowledge from our Tribe?”

“Oh he did?” Zuko looked surprised. “You’re from the Southern Water tribe? I mean, you’d have to be, we don’t have anything from the Northern.” He opened a stone chest next to him. It looked normal from the outside, but opening revealed a strange shape to the interior, as if there were teeth withing the lid. Zuko pulled out multiple scrolls, which he handed to the siblings.

Sokka opened one and was surprised to find a message within stating that this scroll was a reproduction, and described what the original scroll had looked like, from the type of parchment and ink used, to the carvings on the handles. The scroll itself contained information on building a rigging system for a ship.

“Are there Fire Nation Scrolls in here?” Aang asked, the lemur curled up on his head as it had been on Zuko’s.

“Yep.” Zuko scowled, which looked even worse with his scar. “Seems each Firelord does their best to wipe out a culture. Sozin launched the strike on the Air Nomads. Azulon pretty much destroyed all Fire Nation culture that couldn’t be used to prop up the war. So like, the Fire Festival is still on, because ‘Rah Rah Fire Good’, but the Festival of Rebirth, which centered around sowing the fields with ashes to benefit crops was struck from records and history books because it was ‘too Earth Nation’. A vast majority of our culture just…gone.” There was no hiding the bitterness is Zuko’s voice. “And despite the Earth Kingdoms being the single greatest force of Resistance, Ozai’s been obsessed with the Water Tribes, so I guess that will leave Azula with Earth.”

“If they don’t get stopped.” Sokka pointed out.

“I hope so.” Zuko sighed. “If the rest of the world would band together, they could have been stopped a hundred years ago, but too many keep saying ‘not my problem’ till Ozai’s armies are at their doorstep. Everyone keeps saying stuff like ‘If only the Avatar would return, but he’s just one man? Or woman. Like, sure he can bend all the elements, but you just need four people for that. Maybe try to work on stuff yourself rather than rely on one person???” 

“You don’t think the Avatar can save the world?” Sokka asked, eyebrow raised. Sure he like how easily Zuko admitted to the Fire Nation needing to be stopped, but still…

Zuko shrugged. “It’s less I don’t think he can and more…I guess I don’t feel he should have to, I mean, the Fire Nation is about the size and a half of Ba Sing Se. It wouldn’t have stood a chance if all the Earth Kingdoms gave a United front against it in the beginning, much less both Water Tribes assisting. But only a few Kingdoms and the Southern Tribe did more than protect their own borders. It just doesn’t seem fair to put it all on one person.”

_Thank you_ Aang thought. He wasn’t ready to admit who he was to the Restorationists. In fact, he would have been happy if no one had known. But Zuko saying it didn’t all have to be on his shoulders…no one but Gyatsu had told him that.

“This would mean so much to the Tribe.” Katara said softly, looking at a scroll describing building elaborate structures from ice.

“Would if be better to get the original or copies?” Zuko asked.

Katara gave him a look that was just shy of a glare. “What do you think?”  
  


“Depends on how quickly you need the information. We always put originals in the closest cache to where we find them. Like this Waterbending scroll-” Zuko opened one. “-we recovered from pirates in the Earth Kingdom. You can tell from this marking that the original is in our cache in the Fuxai ruins.” He pointed to a small green emblem at the top of the note explaining it was a reproduction. “That’s quite a distance from here. So if the goal is to get the information to your tribe as quickly as possible, it would be easier for me to get a few hands and copy all we have. We’d probably be finished by this evening, which means you could leave to return with it as soon as tomorrow morning. However if it’s importance is the cultural history, it makes more sense to get the originals, even though traveling to all the caches would be months worth of work.”

“Oh,” That was…well thought out. It occurred to Katara this may not have been the first time the true owners of what the Restorationists recovered had come claiming what was theirs.

“Do you think you could do both?” Sokka asked seriously. “Make the copies now and, since we’re going on a journey with Aang, we can swap out the new copies for originals if we pass by.”

“Certainly.” Zuko smiled. “And it gives me a convenient excuse to take a break form trying to decipher Monk Chaiyun’s script for a little while.”

“One question though. If you thought you could be done by tonight and it was important, why would we wait till tomorrow to leave?” Aang wondered.

“And the others say I’m reckless.” Zuko rolled his eyes. “You guys just scaled the mountain. You know how dangerous it is to navigate in broad daylight. In the dark? Even I’d call it a death trap.”

“Actually we don’t. We flew in on my flying bison.” Aang explained.

Zuko froze, then looked at Aang as though he was seeing him for the first time. “A…a real…you really are a…” His mouth opened and closed several times. “Can I see it?” he finally said, then buried his face in his hands as thought that wasn’t at all what he’d wanted to say out loud.

“Sure!” Aang rose to his feet, wind swirling around him. Zuko gaped openly, but followed the monk outside to where they’d entered the temple from.

Zuko hadn’t been the only one interested in Appa. A large group of Restorationists were staring, albeit from a good distance away.

“This is Appa. He’s been my best friend since we were little.” Aang introduced.

Zuko stared in wide eyed wonder. “Can I touch him?”

“Sure, Appa’s friendly. Aren’t you?’ Aang asked, as if expecting the bison to answer.

Zuko tentatively reached out and touched Appa. He stroked it for a few minutes before impulsively hugging Appa, burying himself in the white fur.

“He’s so fluffy,” Zuko proclaimed in a muffled voice.

Katara laughed and even Sokka smiled. “Still not sure on the rest of them, but this Fire Nation guy’s alright.”

Katara smiled back at him, and at Aang, who was eagerly showing Zuko the best way to pet Appa. Yeah. This one was okay.


	5. Restorationist Snippet-Northern Water Tribe

“And you.” Pakku glared at the grey-clad member of the Avatars party. “It is only for the sake of our word given you blood hasn’t stained the snow, a promise we would not have made had we known the Avatar traveled with a Firebender.”

“You expect him to learn the fourth element watching a bonfire?” Zuko said dryly. “Have no worries. I am here for the sake of the Avatar and that is all. When Aang leaves I will go with him and henceforth no Restorationist shall set foot on the North Pole.”

Pakku snorted and left, an apologetic Aang following him. As they had expected Katara exploded. 

“How could you just let him say that to you? You’ve done nothing but help in the fight against the Fire Nation, risking your own life in the process. You’re a direct descendant of Avatar Roku. How can you let that stuck up, egotisitical, sexist-”

“Because Aang needs waterbending. It will probably be his most useful element in fighting fire.” Zuko sighed. “Besides, it was rather amusing he never even realized I insulted him.”

“Wait, when did you do that?” Sokka asked.

“I didn’t say no one of Fire Nation descent, I said no _Restorationist._ In other words I was saying his culture wasn’t worth being remembered.”

Sokka whistled appreciatively. Katara looked a bit unsettled though. “You really feel that way?”

Zuko snorted. “They are cowards and oathbreakers who abandoned their sister tribe the moment it was convenient. They are disrespectful of their women and risk their warriors needlessly by not allowing them to learn how to heal themselves. Their traditions are obviously FAR more important than their people.” Disgust was clear in his voice. “I consider it the greatest of injustices that they have been safe while the more honorable Southern Tribe has suffered.”

And he wasn’t saying it to flatter the two from the Southern Tribes, they knew. Zuko spoke his mind for good or ill. He’d often spoke of his respect for their people, but had never mentioned his feelings on the Northern Tribe before. And Sokka could see how if he hadn’t had a bad feeling about them before Zuko would now. Casual disregard for their own people had caused Zuko to turn against the Fire Nation. If he interpreted the limitations of gender in the Northern Tribe as the same? Yeah Zuko wouldn’t light the fire, but he wouldn’t regret the burning either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was actually a plot point I had planned for Nursery Rhyme. Namely that Zuko, who always cared very deeply for his people, would react very poorly to what he would interpret as putting tradition above the safety and well being of their people. Also the fact that they essentially left the SWT to rot was a big strike against them honor wise.
> 
> He may grumble and/or shout (Unlike Restorationist!Zuko, Avatar!Zuko is much less concerned about not causing an incident), but Katara will always be the driving force to fight the patriarchy


End file.
